Trial of Anubis

١: WRAITH

      The museum steps grew hot beneath his boots. The sun beat down on his back, a reminder that this second-coming was punishment rather than a shot at redemption. 

      Despite his existence being shrouded in darkness for millennia, the heat was a warning. What he had could be taken away in a flicker of fire. Grunting, he moved beneath the shade of the bazaar entrance. 

      His amber eyes scanned the crowd of tourists and locals, to find his next target―the next gifted soul. Even though the heat posed as a distraction, his sights were clear. He'd already acquired one soul in a Memphis market, a boy who was pillaging the fruits of Ptah. The boy hadn't given himself up easily, and there'd been a fight worthy of the ancients, but he never lost.

      All it took was a glance and a friendly smile, a few persuasive words and then he gained a new recruit to his twisted cause. He surveyed the faces of everyone that walked passed, absorbing their features for any sign of being different or any distinct features that the Great Father might have marked out as a hint for him. The most common were traditional tattoos, long black hair or an eerie grace to their movements.

      He then spotted one, a young boy barely in his teens. Something in the man's gut told him that this boy would serve him well. The young boy was behind a respectable looking woman, and he obviously wasn't her son by his tatty clothing and devious look about him. The boy pinched her wallet and backed away down the alley as soon as they made eye contact.

      "Which one?" a muffled voice asked from behind, disrupting his train of thought. 

       From the entrance, Anuka emerged with a snarl. Like Wraith, he was dressed to assimilate into the Ungifted community. Dark pants, boots and linen shirts were customary. The only distinguishing feature were the rolls of linen covering Anuka's forearms and neck. As he stepped partially into the sunlight, the bandages slowly travelled to his extremities―curling around his fingers and distorting the lower half of his face. 

      Anuka's raven black hair stuck out in shaggy spikes, shadowing his amber eyes. Those eyes saw with a canine intent, a lust for warm flesh. Black kohl rimmed heavily around Anuka's eyelids, enhancing his animalistic appearance. 

      Wraith jerked his chin in the direction where the boy had fled. He was glad that they'd chosen to hunt in the old sector of Luxor, instead of where most of the tourist revenue lay. Wraith stepped out into the open again, unafraid that prying eyes would see him and gawk at his imposing height. 

     Wraith concealed his tattoos by wearing a long sleeved linen button-up but succumbed to the Egyptian weather and had rolled the sleeves to his elbows. He flicked his fingers for Anuka to follow. 

      When Wraith's comrade didn't obey, he turned back to roll his eyes, "You did get Isfet to put an Ancient Art on you before you left the Cynopolis, yes?"

      Anuka gave a one-shoulder shrug in response, ". . .I still have my doubts about his incantations. Are you sure people won't notice us?"

      Anuka patted the blade strapped to his back; it was almost the size and width of him. Slices of dark grey metal were slightly visible from the cracks between the bandages that held it to Anuka's broad shoulders.

      "To the Ungifted, you look like a local dressed in white linen robes. Oh, and I see Isfet has added the addition of a bright red fez," Wraith turned and began walking towards the alley.

      Anuka reached up to pat his head cautiously; he found nothing but the silkiness of his black hair. Anuka couldn't see the incantation which Isfet placed on him, it made Wraith smirk slightly at Anuka's obvious discomfort.